Bracelet.



M. L. ROBBINS.

BRACELET.

APPLICATION FILED APR.10,1912.

1,059,564. Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

ATTORNEYS CQLUMBIA PLANOORAPH co.. WASHINGTON. n. C

MEYER L. ROBBINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BRACELET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1913.

Application filed April 10, 1912. Serial No. 689,795.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MEYER L. ROBBINS, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, borough ofManhattan, in the county of New York and State of New York, have madeand invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bracelets, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in bracelets, and moreparticularly to that style or type thereof usually known and referred toas expansible bracelets. In my experience in the manufacture and use ofthis type of bracelet I have found that it is very desirable that somemeans be employed whereby the several links may be guided in theirmovements one upon or within the other, and also some means wherebyduring the movement of the links they will be rigidly held in alinement,at least until the end of the travel of each link upon the other, atwhich time it is desirable that the links be allowed to swing upon oneanother in order to render the bracelet as a whole flexible, and therebyavoid injury to the same, which is always liable to occur if the articlebe made rigid, especially when it is forced over the hand in putting thebracelet on or taking it off of the wrist of the wearer. In other words,it is desirable that during the expansion of the bracelet it shall berigid, but when expanded, shall be flexible. order to lend to thefinished article a neat and pleasing appearance it is also desirablethat the outer sides or surfaces of each of the links be plain or smoothand without projections or protuberances of any kind, as suchnecessarily detract from the pleasing design thereof.

It is the object of my invention to provide a bracelet in which theseadvantageous features are secured, and at the same time to so constructthe article that it may be easily, readily and cheaply manufactured andassembled, and with these andother ends in view consists in certainnovel features of construction and combinations of parts as will behereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a View of a part of a braceletin side elevation constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 isa sectional view thereof in its open or expanded adjustment; Fig. 3 is asectional view of a part of the bracelet taken on the line 3-3 of Fig.2; Fig. tie a r" sectional view taken on the line l4: of Fig.

2 and looking in the direction as indicated by the arrow; Fig. 5 is asectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 and looking in thedirection as indicated by the arrow; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of oneof the inner links; Fig. 7 is an end view of a modified form of linkassembled with the outer link, the latter being shown in section; Fig. 8is a perspective view of a modified form of the inner link illustratedin Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a longitudinal view partly in crosssection, and Fig.10 a cross-sectional view of a modified form of the links.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the article is made upof a number of outer links 10, and inner links 11, Fig. 2, each outerlink being formed of or comprising two longitudinal plates, one an outerplate 12, and the other an inner plate 13 connected by the transverseend plates 14 forming a box-like structure with open sides; also anumber of inner links 11, each comprising two sides 15-15, Fig. 6,connected at one end by means of the plate 16, and at the opposite endby the plate 17, the height or width of said plates 15 being such as tobe nicely contained between theinner and out-er plates 1213 of the outerlink 10, so that the extreme edges of said outer and inner plates 12-13of the outer link will lie flush with the sides 15 of the inner link, asillustrated in Figs. 4: and 5.

In order to guide the links one upon or within the other during theirmovements, I form on one of the plates 12-13, preferably the latter, arib or ribs 18, preferably two,

and spaced apart, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, these ribs beingmade integral with the plate 13, or soldered or otherwise securedthereto, and extend to within a short distance of the ends of saidplate. These ribs are straddled by the feet 19 formed on the end plate17 of the inner link 11, the inner edges of said feet contacting withthe outer sides or surfaces of the ribs and thereby holding the links inalinement and guiding the same during the movement thereof one upon orwithin the other.

By arranging the sides 15 of the inner link to lie within the outer andinner plates 1213 of the outer link, the said links are allowed alongitudinal movement only one upon the other, and by reason of the feet19 straddling or encompassing the ribs 18, all lateral play of the linksone upon the other is avoided. As the ribs gradually merge into theplate 13 at some distance away from the extreme ends of said plate, thelinks, when fully expanded, are allowed a certain play in all directionsone upon or within the other, thereby rendering the article as a wholeflexible, whereby it is more readily and easily passed over the hand ofthe wearer in placing it upon or removing it that, if desired, both arib 18 and a groove from the wrist.

In order to return the several links to their normal or closed positionsafter being expanded, I insert between one end of each 1 inner link andthe endozt its corresponding outer link, a coil spring 20, one end ofsaid spring bearing against the end plate 14 of the outer link, and theother end of the spring bearing against the end plate 17 of If desired,instead of forming the end plate 17 of the inner link as illustrated inFig. 6, it may be constructed as illustrated at 21 in Fig. 8, that is,in addition to the two feet 22, it may be provided with the centralprojection 23 adapted to extend in between the ribs 18 to assist thefeet 22 and ribs 18 in holding the links in alinement during theirmovements, the feet 22 embracing the outer sides of the ribs, and theprojection 23 fitting in between the same, as illustrated in section inFig. 4.

WVhile I have illustrated and described two ribs 18, it will of coursebe understood that but one may be used, if desired, or, on the otherhand, three may be utilized, it being essential only that one of theplates 12-l3 be provided with such means as to be embraced by one of theend plates of the inner link in such way that the links are guided intheir longitudinal movement and held in alinem'ent during the expansionor contraction of the bracelet.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other changes mightbe made in the detailed construction of the links whereby to eiiect thesame result, and without departing from the spirit of the invention, as,for instance, instead of employing a guide in the form of a rib or ribs,the same result may be obtained by forming it in'the shape of a grooveformed in the outer or inner plate, or both, of the outer link, and afoot or feet formed on the end plate of the inner link projecting intothe groove whereby to retain the links in alinement during theirmovements. In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown the outer plate 24: providedwith a groove 25, andinto which extends the lug or foot 26 formed on theend plate 27 of the inner link 28, the remaining parts of the linksbeing constructed substantially as those before described. Again, itwill be understood, without further illustration and description,

25 may be utilized, one, for instance, formed on the inner plate, andthe other the outer plate of the outer link, and hence I do not confinemy invention to the exact details shown and described; but

WVhat I claim is 1. An expansion bracelet comprising a number ofassembled inner and outer links forming a box-like structure, each outerlink comprising longitudinal inner and outer plates connected bytransverse end plates, and a guide formed on the interior of one of saidlongitudinal plates of said outer link. each of said inner linkscomprising side and end plates, the guide formed on said outer linkbeing engaged by one of the end plates of said inner link, and a springassembled with said inner and outer links for returning the same totheir normal closed positions.

2. An expansion bracelet comprising a number of assembled inner andouter links, each of said outer links comprising an inner and outerplate connected at their ends by end plates, the inner plate of theouter link being provided with a rib extending lengthwise of said outerlink and shorter in length than the plate upon which it is formed, eachof said inner links comprising side and end plates, one end plate ofsaid inner link being provided with feet engaging said rib formed on theouter link, and a spring 10- tan, in the county of New York, and Stateof New York, this 9 day of April, A. D. 1912.

MEYER L. ROBBINS.

WVitnesses:

GEORGE GASCHKE, ISRAEL RosKIN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of la'tents,

Washington, D. C.

